Bumper for tank type vacuum cleaners



1953 VAN WYKE H. HELTON 2,625,173

BUMPER FOR TANK TYPE VACUUM CLEANERS Filed Oct. 14, 1949 WW WY/(E H HEL ro/v,

- INVENTOR.

Arm/we? Patented Jan. 20, 1953 BUNIPER FOR TANK TYPE VACUUM CLEANERS Van Wyke H. Helton, Concord, N. 0.

Application October 14, 1949, Serial No. 121,401

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a bumper for tanktype vacuum cleaners and the like and is so constructed as to prevent a vacuum cleaner from engaging the legs of furniture and other objects as it is being slid across the floor of a room, which usually mars or scratches the furniture and to prevent the legs of furniture or the like from becoming wedged against the front portion of the vacuum cleaner.

It is well known that vacuum cleaners of a tank type are provided with runners and have a hose leading from the front end thereof vto a suitable cleaning attachment. Now, as a cleaner of this type is used, the operator holds the free end of the hose and pulls the cleaner along on its runners from place to place as the cleaning proceeds. It frequently happens that the front end of the cleaner or the runners thereon will engage furniture or other objects resting on the floor of the room being cleaned and will scratch or mar the same. It also frequently happens that the cleaner will engage the leg of a chair or table or the like and cause the leg to become wedged between one of the runners and the front of the vacuum cleaner and in this instance it is necessary for the operator to disengage the leg from the cleaner before proceeding.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a bumper for tank-type vacuum cleaners which may be mounted at the front of the cleaner to prevent legs of chairs and the like from becoming wedged between the hose and the runners at the front of the cleaner, and to provide this bumper with resilient means so that as the cleaner is slid along on its runners the resilient means on the bumper will come into contact with any furniture or door frames or the like disposed in the path of travel of the cleaner, rather than the front of the cleaner itself, and thus will prevent the cleaner from scratching or marring the furniture or the like with which it comes into contact.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a bumper for tank-type vacuum cleaners comprising an annular member or ring having a resilient outer surface, this ring being mounted for oscillatory movement at the front of the vacuum cleaner so that any objects disposed in the path of travel of the cleaner will be engaged by the resilient surface of the ring causing the ring to rotate and the cleaner to slide slightly to one side and to pass by the objects without scratching or marring the same and this bumper will also prevent objects from becoming wedged between the runners at the front end of the cleaner.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the bumper attached to a tank-type vacuum cleaner;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the bumper associated with a tank-type vacuum cleaner;

7 Figure 3 is an isometric view of the bumper showing the manner in which it is mounted on the vacuum cleaner, a portion of the vacuum cleaner being shown in dot-dash lines;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional through the ring and being taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawings there will be observed a conventional tank-type vacuum cleaner, broadly designated at Ill, and which comprises a tank or body portion I I having an encased Vacuum unit l2 at its rear or righthand end, in Figures 1 and 2, and a suitable handle l3 secured to the top thereof. A cord l5 having wires l6 and I7 therein is connected to the rear portion of the vacuum cleaner I6 and is connected to an electric motor, not shown. This cord l5 has a plug, not shown, on the other end thereof for connecting the same to a suitable source of electricity.

The front of the vacuum cleaner IE) is provided with a cap [8 having a coupling 20 thereon for securing one end of a hose 2| to the cap I8. The hose 2| extends forwardly, or to the left in Figure 2, and its other end, not shown, is adapted to receive various types of cleaning attachments.

The cleaner I0 is provided with suitable runners 22 and 23 which extend longitudinally of the cleaner In on each side thereof and are provided to permit the cleaner ID to slide along the floor of a room being cleaned as an operator pulls the same by the hose 2|. The runners 22 and 23 are mounted on the cleaner In in an identical manner, their rearends being secured to U-shaped brackets 25, secured one on each side of the rear portion of the cleaner l0 adjacent the juncture of the tank I l and the encased vacuum unit [2, as by bolts 26 and nuts 21. The runners 22 and 23 then extend rearwardly and downwardly and are curved and extend forwardly to a point near the front of the cleaner l0 and then extend upwardly and rearwardly and are secured to the front portion of the tank II as by bolts 30 which penetrate U-shaped brackets 32, secured one on each side of the front portion of the tank I I. The brackets 32 also serve to secure the bumper, about to be described, to the front of the cleaner l0.

The improved bumper comprises a, ring 40 having a resilient ring 4| secured to the outer periphery thereof, and having a cross bar 42 extending across the diameter of the ring 48 and being secured at each end to the inner periphery thereof. This cross bar 42 has a bore, not shown, in the medial portion thereof for reception of a bolt 43 forooscillatablyconnecting thecross bar 42 to aitransverse support bar .45. The transverse support bar 45 extends across the front of the cleaner I and at each side is curved upwardly and then rearwardly and then upwardly again and is bent to form U-shaped portions which fit around the brackets 32 and are secured tothe tank by the bolts 30 which also penetrate the bracket 32 and the runners 22 and 23.

The cross bar 42 is loosely mounted-on the transverse support 45 to permit free oscillation of the ring 40. Now, if the resilient ring 4| on the ring 40 engages anv object, as the cleaner [0 is being slid along the floor, .the ring 40 will turn causing thecleaner fllto slide slightly 'to one side or the other and to pass by the object "dis- .posed'in its path "of travel. It is obvious, inFigure3, that as'the cross bar 42 turns itwill'engage thesideportionsof the support 45 to thusprevent the ring "43 from turning a complete revolution and that'once the ring '40 has turned to where its cross bar .42 is in engagement with the transverse support '45 it will no longer turnin the same direction. Now, inorder to cause the ring-40 to .return to a position where its crossbar .42.is "disposed in a vertical longitudinal: plane bisecting the cleaner [0 and to'again be free to oscillate in.either direction, there is provided a jspring'5il secured at one end to an arm'52 extend- .ing from the cross bar 42 and having its outer end secured toa spring anchor 5| on the'bar 45.

It.is thus seenthat'there is provided an oscillatable anmilanbumper for a tank-type vacuum cleaner which is mounted at the front :of the vacuum cleaner and which will prevent thefront end of the cleaner from'engaging furniture and the like and which will also prevent the leg of, a

4 ployed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claim.

I claim:

A bumper for a body portion having runners on each side thereof provided with upturned front .ends, .a transverse bar .secured .to .and disposed ,between thelfro'nt ends ofsaidzrunners, an annular member of greater diameter than the distance between the front ends of the runner and encircling the front ends of said runners and having a resilient member extending around the outer periphery thereof, said annular member having across bar integral therewith and oscillatably mounted at its central portion on said transverse bar, an arm extending horizontally from the medial portion of said transverse bar, a spring connected to said arm and to said transverse bar for normallyholding the annular member in a given position whereby, the resilient member-on the annual member will engage any objects in thepath of travel of the body portion causing the annular member to rotate a partial revolution and causing the body portion to veer to one side and to pass by the object disposed in its path.

VAN WYKE H. I-IELTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of'record in'the file of this .patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 540,101 Kelly May 28, 1895 607,298 Theleen July 12, 1898 1,114,936 Sylvester Oct. 27, 1914 1,823,617 Lusse Sept. 15, 1931 2,153,481 Ponselle Apr. 4, 1939 2,174,252 Altmyer Sept. 26, 1939 2,177,112 Johnstone Oct. 24, 1939 2,273,883 Norrick Feb. 24, 1942 2,330,684 Colling Sept. 28, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4234 Great-Britain of 1913 

